It’s hard to argue with the fact that bees are awesome. They pollinate plants to help make new plants, and they make both beeswax and honey. Honey, as it turns out, makes really good gin. Of course, regardless of the type of base spirit used, the distiller orchestrates the flavor profile. Wayward Distillation House, based in the Comox valley on Vancouver Island, does a great job of this with their spectacularly unique Unruly gin. Unruly gin uses honey spirit as a base and adds classic botanicals along with one or two twists to produce a smooth, pleasantly sweet and distinctive gin.

The team at Odd Society Spirits takes pride in ingenuity and originality, and their gin is certainly created with this in mind. If there ever was a gin that could tackle unsuspecting imbibers, it is Wallflower Gin. Like the unexpected burst of happy, joyful indulgence of running through a sprinkler, Wallflower delivers a stunning, well-balanced flavour experience that is uniquely subtle and delightful.

When I lived abroad, one of the things I missed most was being outside in forests and by oceans on a regular basis. We take these things for granted here in BC, but fortunately, Phillips Brewery’s Fermentorium has seemingly found a way to bottle this awesomeness in their Stump Gin.

In honor of Father’s Day I wanted to throw together a list of local gins that you might want to share with your Dad, your friends who may be Dads, or just the Dad-like people in your life. If the Dad(s) in your life are anything like mine, gin is not necessarily the top of his list – but here are a few local(ish) suggestions that any non-gin-loving Dad may truly enjoy.

Noteworthy Gin isn’t your normal gin. A craft gin made by the Dubh Glas Distillery in Oliver BC and released earlier this year, it earned the distinction of being the audience’s 1st place choice award for favorite gin at the 2015 BC Distilled event.

I feel incredibly lucky to have access to this gin. A locally produced gin (Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island), from scratch, using local suppliers for the wheat and classic botanicals, Ampersand is an organic gin that is absolutely gorgeous both on its own and in mixed drinks. It is possibly the most classic yet versatile gin I have tasted.

Edinburgh gin, like many of the newer gins, takes advantage of local botanicals along with traditional botanicals to create a unique regional gin that is not completely true to the London dry style. However, it is easy to tell that the distillery paid homage to the style without completely dismissing it.

St. George’s Terroir Gin is one that has sparked a lot of interest and discussion, with its unique, characteristic feature being that it is intended to evoke the sensation of walking through a coastal rainforest. Definitely not a traditional London dry type gin, its douglas fir botanical dominates any juniper flavors but is carefully balanced with very light citrus and lingering, baseline savory spice flavors. Terroir’s listed botanicals include juniper, douglas fir, fennel, coriander, bay laurel and sage, though it is indicated that there are 12 botanicals total, and the website describes a complex, multi-step distillation process that certainly contributes to the gin’s uniqueness.